After the
highs in recent weeks of a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
nomination and a Los Angeles Critics Association award, and the low of failing
to be nominated for a Golden Globe, Watts was not sure what to expect.

The
actress had two Australian girlfriends staying at her Los Angeles home so at 5am
LA time, just before the Oscar nominations were announced, she dragged the
friends out of bed and switched on the TV.

"I woke them up and said 'Come
on, come and watch the TV with me please, I don't want to see this alone',"
Watts told the Fox television network in the US.

"I didn't know which way
it was going to go. It has been all over the place."

There were
celebrations soon after when the 35-year-old won her first Oscar nomination for
her 21 Grams role as a drug-addicted mother dealing with the deaths of
her two daughters.

When a person dies, 21 grams is the amount of body weight
a human supposedly instantly loses.

When asked how many grams left her body
when her name was announced as an Oscar nominee, the relieved Watts replied:
"We are talking pounds."

Watts' close friend,
Nicole Kidman, who was not with her when the nominations were announced, was a
surprise omission despite strong critical praise for Cold Mountain and
nominations for other awards, including the Golden Globes.

Kidman, as the 2003 Oscar winner
for The Hours, will still attend the February 29 Academy Awards
ceremony as it is tradition for the previous year's best actress winner to
present the Oscar to the victorious best actor.

It was thought Kidman might
have to present the Oscar to ex-husband Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai)
or Russell Crowe (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), but
neither actor was nominated.

Kidman's Cold Mountain co-star Jude
Law was nominated.

For Watts, her 10 year struggle to make it to the top of
Hollywood was today rewarded.

"I nearly threw the towel in a couple of
times," Watts said.

She is now looking forward to one of the great perks of
a best actress nominee: being bombarded by the world's top designers to wear one
of their gowns.

"That's the fun stuff," she said.

"All of the other
the stuff is kind of stressful and overwhelming, but I'm definitely going to
enjoy that."